On this day 5th August 1704, the Act of Security was passed by the Scottish Parliament.

On 5 August 1704, the Act of Security was passed by the Scottish Parliament.

The Act of Security, which allowed the Three Estates to choose another successor to Queen Anne than the choice made by the English Parliament, if Scottish conditions were not met, was approved by the Scottish Parliament. The English responded with the Alien Act (1705) which demanded that if the Scots did not accept the Hanoverian succession, or begin proceedings on a union of parliaments, then Scottish imports to England would be banned and Scots living in England would be treated as aliens. (BBC)

• 1960 – Burkina Faso, then known as Upper Volta, becomes independent from France.